Good to know Libbi. I thought that I was going to go mad. Now she is purring like a baby.

My good friend just had this problem with her 830. She has had so many problems while my Diva chugs along (hope I don't jinks myself by saying that aloud). Dealer was going to make housecall yesterday to check it out. Haven't heard from her yet on the result. I am beginning to think these powerhouses are like the little girl who "when she was good, was very, very good. But when she was bad, she was horrid."

I want to warn all of you 830 machine owners what just happened to me & BB. I love my machine & would not trade it for the world but 2 weeks ago it jammed up behind the bobbin. There seemed to be a tangle of threads like you have never seen before. I took it in to my dealer right away & just picked it up today. Apparently ( another customer had the same problem) the machine has a little spring behind the bobbin mechinism ( they were not specific) that seems to be defective in some machines. This is causing the thread to jam up in the tension disks in the bobbin area thus causing big problems. Of course the spring was replaced & the repair was done for free.
So if you are have problems with your tension as I was ( it would not go back to 4 when I reset it) & the gear disks start to come on-you may be having trouble with the spring & need it replaced.

Bernina is awesome & took care of me!!! & my BB (Big Bertha)

I have found that the dual feed is the way to go when piecing! my regular 1/4" foot works well too, but I really LOVE the dual feed. You might try raising the foot heighth a tad too.

Has anyone has this problem with their 830 or 820? I got the message that the upper thread had a problem so I re-threaded the machine & began again. Suddenly the gear sign appeared. I have had this happen before so I knew something was wrong within the bobbin area. WOW There was a huge tangle of threads caught around & behind the bobbin. In addition I cannot pop the bobbin out to get to the threads. I have used my tweezers to get to some of the threads but as I do not want to do damage this will mean a trip to the dealer on Tuesday.

My little 430 is now out & has taken over.

Did you use your duel feed or walking foot like you would with the Pfaff? I think that the duel feed which is the trick.

I found that while piecing with my 830 I had difficulting sewing over several thicknesses where seams joined. I changed the tension but the material still pulled. I went back to my Pfaff and it sewed smooth. Is there any tricks for piecing with the 830?

Will I need to use one machine to piece and another to quilt?